


Along Came A Spider (REWRITE)

by NanixErka



Category: Undertale
Genre: Autistic Papyrus, Baby blaster, Badster, Child Abuse, Child Experimentation, Comfort, Dyslexic Papyrus, Gaster Blaster - Freeform, Gaster Blaster AU, Gen, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Papyrus is 6, Plantonic Love, Rewrite, Sans Has Night Terrors, Sans is 10, Scientist Gaster, Sibling Love, Tuffet is 12, baby blaster au, baby bones, ratings and tags might change, shape shifting, tuffet has annxiety
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2018-09-01 09:24:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8618920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanixErka/pseuds/NanixErka
Summary: REWRITE OF "ALONG CAME A SPIDER" (2015)When 12 year old Tuffet is thrown out of her house due to some ridiculous Spider Tradition, she takes to living on her own without much fuss. But how will she handle her new, independent life when two shape shifters just kinda... take up her couch? She lets them in with open arms, but they seem hesitant. They're clearly hiding things, but living under one roof, some trust has to build... right?





	1. I Give You My Couch, Please Don't Ruin it (1)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Along Came a Spider](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5570680) by [NanixErka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanixErka/pseuds/NanixErka). 



> Thank you very much for reading this revamping of the fic! A lot is gonna be added, retconned, and even changed, so keep an eye out for each new chapter!

Tradition was a strong, binding force in the Underground. 

After the humans sealed them away, it was one of the things monsters clung to, desperately, as a semblance to old life. Some traditions had to die, due to circumstance, and some strengthened unbelievably

However, some of them made even less sense once monsters were forced underground. 

Cut to Tuffet, essentially kicked out of her house at the tender and tumultuous age of 12 on the streets of the capital. 

Why some spiders still did this was a mystery to most monster species. It wasn’t like on the surface, where spider monsters had room to grow and mature in a wide environment. Most of the underground was crowded and cramped, save for the upper levels were only the “bravest” lived. Spiders having to “ go out and prove themselves” just didn’t need to be anymore. Not only was the economy of the underground so robust and supportive of families that it wouldn’t cost them anything, but there was no proving yourself to be had. There were amply supplied shelters and support for all manner of personal emergency

And Tuffet, fortunately, had perhaps the best help she could have ever asked for

The king himself, Asgore Dreemurr. 

She’d met the king by sheer chance, limping around lost near the judgement hall after a confrontation with a slightly younger, but very aggressive fish girl who’d tried to take out her hair bow. In the little frustrating tug of war, she had fallen over and caused an awful crack in her legs exoskeleton. Freaked out by the event, the fish girl fled, and Tuffet was left disoriented and feeling lost. 

The king had killed a human about a half an hour before she arrived. The fifth soul. He was standing alone, having had the Royal Scientist take the body away and clean up the blood. He was looking out the window, flecks of not-monster dust creating the illusion of sunset shimmering through the windows. 

Pulled out of his reverie abruptly by small footsteps, he stared down at her, spotting her injury immediately. He wasted no time in offering her help, to which - flustered as she was at randomly meeting the king- she almost turned down. Before she could, he picked her up with one hand, where she fit comfortably, and he took her to his home, where he served her golden flower tea: best healing agent in the underground. He found her good company with her wit and kind nature. When she asked if they could do this again, he held no objection. 

She was about 7, then. 

After her twelfth birthday and subsequent kicking out of house, Asgore surprised her with perhaps the most overwhelming gift she could have received for her birthday: 

First off, was a house. It was a small house, located near Tem Village right off of the swamps. Nothing more than a modest apartment layout with a small kitchen and large bedroom, but it was more than enough for the spider girl. She spent the first 10 minutes after the reveal crying and hugging the king, who let her get over her initial shock before telling her about her new job. 

He'd given her the job of “First Level Royal Mail Carrier". She’d deliver his personal letters and documents around the first level of the underground including Snowdin, her new home area of Waterfall, and Hotland. It was a simple job, that would barely take up 4 or 5 hours in a day, but it was more than enough for her, paying her enough to where she could buy her own food and live comfortably enough. When he asked if she’d rather get assistance from him she told him no. She wanted to live on her own, be independent, despite her distaste for the tradition. He admired that, and left her be.

And so her days became as follows: wake up, eat, go to the capital to pick up mail, deliver mail (having a lunch halfway through- probably at Grillbys- she really liked that place despite the dogs), go home, read a book Asgore lent her (it was his best way of getting her educated until he convinced her to finish school), eat dinner, and sleep. It wasn't a very eventful life, but it was hers, and she enjoyed it very much. 

Three months later, however, things got interesting…

\--

Tuffet spent a solid 3 minutes trying desperately to wipe the ever coming condensation off her glasses after transferring from Hotland to Waterfall. [i]all[/i] of her letters had been in Hotland that day, and even taking into account the cold of Snowdin, she would still credit Hotland as her least favorite of the upper level lands. Nothing but heat and sweat and hard-to-maneuver-through jumping puzzles. The poor girl swore that they never, ever got easier. And on top of that, she got lost in the CORE facility [i]again[/i]!! She hated going in there to deliver letters to the Royal Scientist. She never even saw the guy, usually handing the mail to one of the assistant scientists like Doctor TJ or a receptionist. She’d heard he was a freaky guy, so that was probably for the best. 

But her mind went back into focus as she stared at her door… which was wide open. 

Her flood of panic was brief but notable, mostly registering as a recalling of whether or not she locked the door on the way out this morning. However, it quickly subsided when she reminded herself of her “mini barrier", and walked herself inside, trying to look around to see if anything happened. She eyes didn't have to scan much, as the intruders were right on her couch! 

Lying on her barely bigger than a love seat couch were two… Monsters? The best way to describe them would be “bone dogs", perhaps. They had the quadrapedal thing going on, and the digitigrade legs, even their heads- with muzzles and everything! Their skulls reminded Tuffet of a book she'd read once with surface animals in it. Upon closer inspection, she noted that only their spines were sharp points and their claws seemed just as dangerous. She briefly worried for the integrity of her couch, before realizing that the “tap tap tap” of her shoes on the stone floor had awoken one of them. 

It was the bigger one, wearing a ragged, blue winter coat around his upper body. How it fit him without ripping she just concluded was magic. 

As they stared at one another. She took note of more details. The big one looked to be about the size of lesser dog on all fours, and that wasn't tiny by any means- at least, compared to her. The smaller one looked to be about the size of greater dog without the armor, and had a dirty, ragged, tearing scarf around its neck. When she looked away from the hollowed, blue iris’ of the skeleton, he growled and she immediately looked back, swallowing her fear to finally speak 

“.... Hi… Uh… So… This is my house” she stated, thanking her shaking body for not making her lisp too pronounced. The blue-eyed bone dog looked at her skeptically. “I-it is!!” She asserted, straightening herself out “It was a gift!” She nearly shouted. That raise in volume jolted the smaller one awake, whose kinder looking(?) orange eyes stared at Tuffet in a sort of awe. Tuffet clenched one of her fists a bit before taking a breath and continuing. 

“If you can understand me, you can answer me.” She reasoned, making eye contact with the larger one. They pulled the smaller one to themselves, clearly still wary “Did you break into my house?” She asked plainly. They shook heads simultaneously. 

“So I [i]did[/i] leave the door open!” Tuffet lightly hit herself in the forehead with an uppermost arm “Well…. As long as you're gone by morning, you can stay the night I guess” she checked the time. Since she’d stopped for dinner at the apartment building near the CORE, it was already 9 pm, bedtime for her. She started taking a large, red bow from her hair using her uppermost hands, using another set to start to rub her tired face, and The lowermost pair just rested on her legs. “I'm super tired and stuff, so I'm going to bed” she used her lower right hand to wave to them as she started walking towards her bedroom “Sleep well” 

With her back to the couch, she suddenly heard a rather frightening combination of sounds, starting with a crunching sound, and followed by the whoosh of magic use. She turned around quickly, hearing the sound of tiny feet on stone as… A small humanoid skeleton(???) approached her. He was dressed sparingly, nothing but an orange dress and an old red scarf. Tuffet quickly put two and two together as the child stopped in front of her. He only came up to her chest

“Thanks!!” The small child said eagerly. Before she could even say “no problem” or the like, he was pulled back, and Tuffet made eye contact with two bright, glowing eyes. The taller skeleton glowered at her, dressed in nothing but holey pants and the blue winter coat. She couldn't even take in the details, his stare was so fierce. She felt heavy.

“What's the catch” he asked. Tuffet allowed herself to take more details as he spoke, nothing that he was shorter than Tuffet by a few inches, and seemingly a bit more.. stout than the smaller one, who seemed nearly gaunt. The air about him felt dead and cold. She swore she saw her breath as she exhaled.

“What catch?” She responded, still registering that these two were shape shifters of all things! A rare breed in the underground. 

“Why are you just letting us sleep in your house?” He narrows his gaze “You don't know us. We might be dangerous” Tuffet raised an eyebrow at that, and pointed above her door, where a symbol had been carved into the wall. 

“See that? That's a protection tune. It keeps people with bad intentions from entering my house. It's there to protect me.” She didn't feel like telling him that she was friends with King Asgore. He wouldn't believe that anyway “if you came here to hurt me or steal things you wouldn’ta gotten past the doorway” she further explained “plus, I mean, if you need a place to sleep in a land where it's always rainy and gross, might as well be my couch” 

The blue one seemed a little alarmed at her open door policy. Their staring contest was broken when the orange one sneezed. Tuffet watched as all of blues attention immediately turned to orange. 

“Papyrus, are you okay?” He knelt before him, grabbing his shoulders. The worry in his… Eye sockets? 

“Fuzzy head…” orange muttered, sounding stuffed. Tuffet wondered how he even sneezed without a nose, but quickly realized that wasn't important 

“I have medicine” she voiced, not even waiting for blue’s 3rd skeptic look of the evening. She pattered into the kitchen, reaching into a low cabinet to grab a general magic medicine. She returned holding the bottle “it's a chewable.” She explained. "He only needs to take one before he gets a fever, two if he has one already. Does he have a fever?”

“I though you super tired or something” the older skeleton’s voice had a strange bite 

“That's not an answer” she nearly sneered, but the two were broken away again by Papyrus sneezing. 

“... No. He just needs one” he answered. Tuffet opened the bottle and handed it to him. He… Sniffed it? Before giving it to Papyrus. The small skeleton grinned after getting a nod from blue. 

“Thanks!” He spoke, before chewing on the medicine. Since it activated pretty much immediately, Papyrus jumped and posed “All better!!” He announced. Tuffet grinned, giggling a little. She turned a bit to face the blue one, whose name she still hadn’t learned. She offered her middle right arm

“I'm Tuffet” she introduced, and waited. He took a moment, but did take her hand 

“Sans” he curtly answered. She shook his limp hand. 

“Well, Sans, now that you know me, I'm gonna go to bed… You guys can stay as long as you like or whatever.” She rubbed her eyes with her upper hands “I got work tomorrow so try to be quiet okay?” 

“Wait, you have a job? You’re like, my age” Tuffet somehow rolled all five of her eyes at Sans’ comment

“Whatever. Goodnight” She waved him off with two arms and closed her bedroom door behind her. 

Sans stood there for a few minutes, staring at the door as Papyrus yawned and went back to the couch. 

“She’s nice” Papyrus commented, before shifting back and letting out a gruff sound.

“Yeah… I guess” Sans answered, also shifting back and joining his brother on the small couch. They barely fit, but it was infinitely more comfortable than a linoleum floor, or a steel one as well. As Papyrus settled in and slept, Sans just replayed what’d happened over and over in his head

… Was that how friends were made?


	2. Don't Look a Gift Spider in the Fangs (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introspection, contemplation, arguing and oatmeal

Sans was awoken by the smell of cinnamon, and a second smell he did not recognize. He changed to his bipedal form as he sat up, stretching and cracking his neck almost obscenely, then his eyes immediately scanned for Papyrus. Panic surged through him briefly as he did not see his little brother on the couch or even on the floor, but it left him when he heard his brother’s giggle

Looking into the small dining room, he spotted Papyrus, who was eating a gruel-ish looking food from a bowl with a spoon that he seemed to be having a little trouble using. Across the way from him was the spider girl - Tuffet - who was eating the same thing, but her’s had a red-brown dusted powder on it. That was probably the cinnamon smell. Though he just could not tell what the heck they were eating. He took the opportunity of better lighting and a lack of exhaustion to get a better look at her. 

Her thick, circular, wire-rimmed glasses were the first thing he noticed. The light was reflecting off of them in such a way that no one would blame you if you thought she didn’t even have eyes. Closer inspection revealed that she had five of them, all a dark red and trained on Papyrus, reaching forward to grab his attention and show him how to use the spoon better. Her fangs peeked out of her smile, and her hair - a dark brown - was curling and loose down past her shoulders. Her deep red skin nearly looked black. As his mind focused on them, he realized that they were actually having a conversation

“And then I go to bed. Thats my day” She finished, smiling pleasantly “Being a mail person is fun!” 

“Oooooh!” Papyrus was kicking his feet “Can I come??” He asked, that trademark eager loudness made Tuffet cringe a tad, but it was quick. She was clearly enamored with the precious little skeleton. As she should be, Sans thought. 

“I guess so.” she responded “You should as your brother first though, no?” She looked up, making eye contact with him. He nearly startled. Had she known he was watching? “And look whose awake” 

“... Is it morning?” Sans asked. Tuffet gave him a perplexed look

“Yeah, are you hungry? I made some oatmeal?” she pointed back to the stove, where a pot was sitting. There was a stool right there as well. 

“It tastes great!!” Papyrus nodded, finishing his bowl and pushing it away. Sans nodded to Tuffet, who turned to Papyrus asking if he wanted seconds. The smaller skeleton nodded with a beaming smile, and she walked into the kitchen. Sans approached his brother. 

“How are you feeling, Pap?” Sans asked, rubbing his little brother’s forehead. 

“I feel good” Papyrus’ grin never left. “Snifflin’s gone” 

“Ah, that's great bro. After we eat we’ll get goin’” 

“Leave??” Papyrus frowned. “But.. she’s nice!” 

“Doesn’t matter, bro. We gotta go” Sans said firmly

“She said she’d fix my scarf” Papyrus showed off the gaping hole right in front of his neck “Please???” 

Sans sighed. Boy, little brothers were hard to reason with sometimes. 

Tuffet came back to the table after a few moments, holding two bowls of the oatmeal and placing them on the table. 

“Here. I gotta get ready for work now” She said, not even bothering to register Sans’ look as she left that room for hers. 

Sans stood, staring at the oatmeal and glanced at papyrus, who was already shoving the spoon into his mouth with his trademark enthusiasm. Seeing him enjoying it so thoroughly, Sans, decided it must be pretty good, grabbing the spoon in the bowl and taking a bite. 

It was… bland. He wouldn’t say it was bad, far from it.. But it had barely any flavor whatsoever. He eyed the cinnamon sugar shaker on the table, reading the label. He’d only ever had cinnamon in a cinnabunny, and had no idea what raw cinnamon tasted like, but he needed *some* flavor on the darned thing, and grabbed it, shaking what could possibly be a threatening amount in the bowl and took another bite. Better. 

The two ate in comfortable silence, with Sans in deep thought and Papyrus making a mess of himself in his oatmeal inspired bliss. 

“Wow, you guys sure are hungry” Tuffet voiced, drawing their attention from breakfast. She was dressed warmly in a button-down coat with a green scarf and hat that covered up most of her hair. The jacket only had two arms, and Sans could easily see the lumps of her other arms hugging herself under the coat snugly. 

“Lonely?” Sans asked, raising an eyebrow in a bemused manner. Tuffet's stare back was far less enthused

“I’d like to see _you_ save money to alter a coat for six arms” she responded “I have to go pick up my deliveries for today. They're with mister Gerson and are mostly in Snowden Town, I think. Would you like to come with?” She offered 

Before Papyrus could jump at said offer, Sans interjected “Nah, we gotta get going soon anyway” 

“But your brother, he said you got nowhere to go” 

Sans paused, and eyed Papyrus, who was now hyper focused on his oatmeal to avoid his brother's gaze. Since he couldn't glare at him (he wouldn't have anyway, that was just mean), he leveled it at her. She seemed offended by it 

"We don't need your pity” he practically growled 

“What pity??” She cautiously raised her available hands in a weird form of … surrender? “I'm offering a place on my couch, and company so you're not bored outta your mind all day” 

“But _why_??” He asked “What do you want in return? Protection? Favors?” he was practically spitting out his words. Tuffet huffed at him, putting her arms down 

“... Maybe I just wanted a little company” she answered quietly. “Listen” she started. He noticed a lisp “You do what you think is best for you.. but you're welcome here. If you are leaving, make sure to put your dishes in the sink” she walked toward the door and paused before opening the door “Today is a short day, I think. I'll be back in a few hours… Be safe, whatever you do” 

And she left

Once the door shut, Papyrus let out a whine “Saaaaaaaaaaaaans!! You made her all upset!” 

"I know” Sans groaned, his face making a thudding noise as it hit the table “But we can't stay pap, he’ll find us here”

“But how?” Papyrus tilted his head as he spoke, tapping his hands A-rhythmically on the table. “I think this place is great! It's small, hidden, and there's a nice spider that feeds us oatmeal” He reasoned, nodding to himself in approval of his logic.

Sans started thinking it over. 

It /had/ taken him nearly 4 hours to find this house, so that was a point in its favor. The second point was the “barrier” that Tuffet talked about the night before. If she wasn't lying about that- and she really had no reason to do so- that might just be his and Papyrus’ strongest line of defense against the good doctor. Then there were the obvious perks of living in a house like a dry place to sleep and plenty of food to eat. He looked over to Papyrus and found him eating the remaining oatmeal in his blaster form on the table. Sans grabbed him by the ribs and put him on the ground, garnering a whine before he placed the bowl down there with him. 

“Alright bro. We’ll ask the spider if she’ll let us stay” Sans concluded Papyrus jumped happily, teetering on his little feet as he clicked away in the blaster tongue 

“Make sure you say sorry when she gets back!” He said before bounding over to her couch and looking at the TV “ooh! A TV!! Can we turn it on?”

“Sure, Paps” he got up, yawning as he walked over to turn on the TV, and joined his little brother on the couch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like, I wrote this chapter before the reveal of Papyrus' favorite food and i kinda feel like a clairvoyant lmao


	3. Chilled Out - Part 1 (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Spider and the Skelebros go to snowdin and chill with the hottest guy in town
> 
> REWRITTEN CHAPTER 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG  
> I"M TRYING TO GET BACK ON THE BALL FORGIVE ME

They had been there a little over two weeks when Sans started feeling at ease. A rhythm had been reached, and a pattern recognizable. He found comfort in that. 

So far, the pattern consisted of waking up early to eat breakfast with Tuffet and seeing her off to work. After that, they'd watch TV or sleep a little more (though that was more Sans way to spend the morning than Papyrus’) and just sort of waste time until Tuffet came home. 

On her days off, she’d spend about half of the day cleaning - in which she’d ask for their help and get it half of the time. The other half of the day was spent watching TV with them, trying, desperately, to talk to them, to get to know them. Sans was starting to get agitated after about 3 days of full of questions ranging from “Where are you from?” to “What happened to your parents?” He’d always just kind of jump around them, and when Papyrus was asked he clammed up, looking to Sans with concern. 

Eventually, her questioning finally got her a response

“ Stop it!!” He glowered “I don’t want to answer your stupid questions” He looked away from her with a huff. Tuffet gasped a little at this. 

“Hey! I’m trying to be nice!” she argued, though her voice was kept low for Papyrus. The little “Blaster” as Sans called it was sleeping in Sans’ lap. “I mean, you’re staying in my house. Maybe I should know you a little better?” 

“.... I don’t even get it” Sans grumbled, petting his brother absentmindedly “Why are you even letting us stay here… eating your food… sleeping on your couch… I just…” He looked at her, his eye lights boring right into her own pupil-less eyes “Why are you being so nice to us anyway??” He nearly rose his voice, but caught himself when Papyrus shifted in his lap. 

“ I….” Tuffet shut her eyes in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose with an upper arm avoiding her glasses. “Why?” She let go of her face, not even looking at him in her frustration “Why do people question me for being nice??” 

Sans stared at her “... What?” 

“I mean, is there something *wrong* with being nice?? Really?” Tuffet let out her own huff, clenching a few of her fists and grabbing her skirt with the rest. “ I just don’t understand why people question kindness, you know? Whenever people ask me why i’m so nice, i don't understand what they mean… Is that not what you’re supposed to do? Are you not supposed to be nice by default?” She questioned. When she didn’t get a response from Sans she just continued “Questioning why someone is being mean, I totally get. But.. Nice? When you ask why I’m being nice its like.. You’re offended that I’m being nice, you know?” She leaned back on the couch and shut her eyes, contemplating “.. Maybe, if people stopped questioning kindness, there’d be more of it…” 

Sans stared at her quietly, noting that she wasn’t looking at him, and that her face had a slight glow to her cheeks. Was she embarrassed? The silence felt dry and heavy despite the windows in her home that betrayed the humidity outside. He took the time to remove his brother from his lap, watching him curl up before scooting towards her, thinking over his words. 

“...My brother and I… where we’re from.. Its not a nice place” He tried to keep his wording as vague as possible “...Kindness was used against us… They… pretended to be nice.. Because they wanted to use us for… bad things” he looked over at his brother for a moment “Papyrus still thinks that everybody can be good. I mean, he trusted ya faster than he’s trusted anyone… though that doesn’t mean much, I guess… cause of where we’re from.” he looked at at Tuffet, seeing that her eyes were on him now. He could feel … some emotion coming off of her, but he didn’t know what she was feeling. He took in a breath “So…. Uh…. I’m sorry” he breathed out a sigh, waiting for a response. 

He quickly found himself borderline smothered in a six-armed hug, all of the spiders weight on him. 

“I know that people aren’t always kind…” Tuffet muttered, feeling his discomfort at the physical contact. “But… Please, just.. Have a little faith in me?” She started to pull away, but Sans fought his baser fears to return the hug. It wasn’t tight, but it was enough to tell Tuffet - without words- that he would at the very least try

She re-returned the hug, smiling into his collar bone, content. 

That was clearly the start of something beautiful…

But now. He felt stupid, wearing a hat. 

Frankly, he could not believe she’d somehow convinced him to wear a hat. He was a skeleton, for goodness sake! The cold didn’t affect him, or Papyrus for that matter. But there we were, Bundled up and ready to join Tuffet on her mail run to Snowdin for the first time. He always said no when she wanted to take them through Hotland, but when she implored and promised it was only in Snowdin, he agreed. (Papyrus’ begging helped, of course. He can’t say no to him.) 

Tuffet approached Papyrus and helped him adjust his hat while finishing buttoning her jacket. In her time off, she’d “fixed” her jacket on her own, sewing on the needed sleeves for her other two pairs of arms. Even with Sans’ lack of knowledge he knew it wasn’t the best job. He made a mental note to figure out some way to thank her for her help by buying her a coat. You know, if he ever found a way to make money

“Alright. Are we all set?” she asked. 

“I don't need this hat” Sans pointed out for the umpteenth time. Tuffet rolled her eyes

“Shush, Sans. I think it looks cute!” She announced, adjusting her scarf. Sans prayed that his cheeks weren’t tinted blue. 

“I think you look nice, Sans!” Papyrus injected, flapping his arms up and down in excitement, his hats pom pom jumped up and down with him. 

“You’re not helping, Paps… but thanks” He sighed “We going yet?” 

“Yeah, yeah, come on guys. The River Person isn’t too far from here” She opened the door, letting the boys leave first before locking the door and jogging to catch up. They arrived then within five minutes, Tuffet looking a little overheated in the humidity as she go into the boat, and off they went. 

The ride was brief, and the switch from the humidity of Waterfall to the brisk cool of Snowdin was noticed even by Sans, who felt no real change in temperature due to his bones. He recalled that this was where they were originally headed. This is where he’d wanted to hide out. He’d heard about it from Gaster offhandedly, talking about how he hated the snow and “cheery ignorant vibe”. But that was history now. Recent history, but history nonetheless. He observed Papyrus, who was tapping the side of the boat a-rhythmically in excitement. It was a little loud, and the River Person occasionally looked back at him. Sans bristled slightly, ready to defend his brothers behavior at any moment. When he looked at Tuffet she barely registered it. In fact, when she looked at Papyrus, she was smiling. 

“Excited?” Her fanged grin was as genuine as always. Papyrus simply nodded. “You sure are stimming a lot. Must be *super* excited” Papyrus grinned back and nodded more, though the word “stimming” got her a perplexed look from the both of them at first. 

“Stimming?” Sans repeated the word

“Yeah, that's what he’s doing, isn’t it? My mother used to do something different” Tuffet recalled, furrowing her brow a bit in memory. Sans noticed this. “She was “autistic”. Is Papyrus autistic?” 

Sans looked to Papyrus, making eye contact “... We dunno. Our… guardian always said that there was something… wrong.. With him” 

“There's nothing wrong with him!” Tuffet argued, looking a little surprised

“That's what I said!” Sans eagerly agreed with a nod. A few moments later the boat stopped, and the three of them carefully exited the boat onto the soft snow. 

“See you again soon, River Person!” Tuffet thanked, handing them 1G as tip. Sans could *feel* the smile under the hood as they floated away. 

“Come follow me, guys. Once I’m done with all my deliveries, we’ll go have lunch at Grillbys! I know you guys will like it there” she announced to them, walking at a steady, brisk pace. “Just be really careful, the ice can get really slippery here. I always fall” She chuckled

Sans could believe that

He watched as Papyrus caught himself up to Tuffet, who chatted with him pleasantly as she adjusted her mail bag. She took out some letters with two of her hands, holding Papyrus’ hand with yet another hand. Her free hands swung lazily at her side. Sans watched them from a few feet behind as they entered the center square of the small, kind-looking down. The figurative warmth of the place got to him quite quickly, greeted with brief waves from everyone as they passed, mostly towards Tuffet, he assumed. It was a nice occurrence regardless. But boy was it cold, really cold. Temperature didn’t really affect him, seeing as he didn’t have skin or the like, but he could definitely feel it. When Tuffet briefly looked back to make sure Sans was still there, he noticed a red twinge to her nose and cheeks. He assumed that despite all her layers she was still a bit chilled. 

Tuffet walked over to the inn, where Sans assumed her route started. She had only a few letters, which she said was a little strange, but they were big and bulky. She had mentioned that they were royal letters, which answered a question in his head, since he’d seen them once or twice under Gaster’s arm when he talked to them. He quickly shook away the memory. 

They were safe… he couldn’t find them anymore… hurt them again… right?

He quickly shoved that thought aside and followed Tuffet for the rest of her mail deliveries. They stopped at the house of a reptilian family, a place Tuffet in between giggling called the “librarby”, which was a joke the brothers flat out did not get. And lastly, she stopped them in front of a large, warm colored building with big letters on the front. She turned and grinned at them 

“This is my favorite place in all of Snowdin Town. The guy that runs the place is super duper nice” She assured as she turned around. Sans spotted a rather glaring patch of ice, but had no time to warn her as he foot slipped, and she fell pretty melodramatically, with her arms flailing and a little “YIPE” coming from her

It would have been hilarious to Sans, had he not heard a disturbing cracking noise, reminding him of not so pleasant times in the lab. He glance to Papyrus for a second, who had on a similar, disturbed expression. A whining groan gripped them both out of their stupors

“Ow….” Tuffet sat herself up, raising a hand to her face cautiously “ah…. I cracked my face….” Sans sidestepped and knelt down, to take a look at what she was talking about. 

A rather nasty looking crack had formed right on her exoskeleton, staring at the apple of her cheek, and reaching towards her mouth. It didn’t spider out all that much, but it looked deep. The look on his face told Tuffet just how concerned he was. 

“Wh-whoa, don’t worry!” she announced, raising two hands “I crack my exoskeleton all the time” she awkwardly chuckled, turning her head to see that Papyrus had a similar, concerned expression. “The cold makes my exoskeleton real easy to crack. Just help me get inside and I‘ll be fine” she tried her best to assure them as she began to stand up. Sans got up faster, grabbing an upper arm to help her stay steady. He huffed in frustration. 

“How come ya didn’t say anything sooner?” he suggested, kinda relieved that she waved it off the way she did. It meant it wasn’t serious… at least that’s what he hoped. Papyrus got on her other side and tightly grabbed a mitted hand 

“Ya sure you’re okay?”

Tuffet nodded “I’m fine, okay?” She tried to ease their concern with a fanged grin as they went inside.


	4. Chilled Out - Part 2 (4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grillbys Time! (Rewrite of Chapter 4)

Sans could only describe the inside of this establishment as _warm_ , and not just in temperature. It was warm colors, hushed voices, a nice, calm song on the jukebox in the corner. It just _felt_ warm and inviting. He felt his guard go down as they slid into a booth, all of them getting comfy on one side. Tuffet didn’t seem to mind. She waved over to the bar itself, and his eyes followed, looking over at who she was waving to. 

Standing behind the bar cleaning a glass was a man made of fire, just as warm as the rest of the establishment. He was dapperly dressed with a vest and some reading glasses… despite not having eyes. Sans found himself fascinated by the gentle flicker of his flames. Papyrus was also watching the fire-man as he came from behind the bar and over to the booth. 

“I see that you’ve hurt yourself.. Again” The voice that came from him crackled softly, a deep baritone that reminded Papyrus of a large, roaring fire, which was kinda what he was, funny enough. He heard a sort of fondness in the fire-man’s voice for the spider girl. 

“Ehe… Yeah… It just happened, too” Tuffet admitted to him. She then pointed to the skeletons on either side of her “These are my new roommates! Sans and Papyrus! Guys, with is Grillby, he owns the place. “

The boys nodded to the fire monster

“Can I get some soup and a cup of tea?” She asked, and Grillby nodded “What do you guys want?”

“Uh..” Papyrus piped up “Something with…. Food?” 

Tuffet giggled “How about some soup? Keep is simple” Papyrus nodded at the suggestion “You, Sans?” 

“ Uh…. I’ll get soup too, I guess” Sans answered, awkwardly, as he looked up at the man. 

“Well, I’ll get to it. It was nice to meet you boys. You can call me Grillby” Sans couldn’t tell if he was smiling, but is tone was pleasant. He left them in the booth. Tuffet grinned. 

“He’s pretty cool” She commented, gently prodding at the crack on her face as she did so.

“H-hey!! Don’t touch it!” Sans scolded, grabbing her hand “Won’t that make it worse?” 

“Sans, its fine, really” She tried to reassure him, but his face told of his disbelief. Papyrus got himself another look

“Why did your face crack like that?” The smaller skeleton asked. 

“Well, its my exoskeleton” Tuffet explained “I’m a spider. I don’t have ‘bones’, per se. My bones are… my skin? It's hard to explain to people that aren’t spiders” She shrugged. Papyrus took that answer without complaint as Grillby returned with their orders 

“That was fast” Sans commented

“When I know Tuffet is coming to town, I always have the soup that she likes ready made” Grillby explained. Sans could believe it. Grillby placed the soups in front of the kids, and a mug of hot tea in front of the spider girl. She immediately took hold of it, and blew on it, taking little sips. 

“If I don’t drink it right away he gets all stuffy like a mom” Tuffet giggled a little as she took another sup of tea. Grilby’s response to her comment on him was… a raised eyebrow? Again, hard to tell since he didn’t have a face, but something there moved. 

Sans watched her drink the tea, and she she did, the crack on her face began to recede until it was completely gone. He was almost alarmed at how quickly it healed “That tea…” 

“It's King Asgore's very own Golden Flower tea” Grillby voiced “Its the best natural healer you can’t buy” 

Sans looked to Grillby, then back to TUffet, who was smiling at him “See, Sans? I’m good” She looked over to Papyrus to show the now healed cheek “See?” 

“Wow!!!” Papyrus put his hand on the cheek, feeling where the crack had been “Its all gone!” 

“Yup! Now lets eat!” She put the mugdown and grabbed for her soup with a different set of hands. 

“I’ll be around to collect your bowls when you’re all finished. Are you done with your route, Tuffet?” Grillby asked, taking the empty teacup. Tuffet nodded to him, taking a spoon and starting on the soup. “Then you three stay as long as you like” He then left them at the booth. 

“... He’s pretty chill, you know, for a guy made of fire” Sans commented

“Yeah. Guess you could say he’s not very…. Hot headed” Tuffet giggled a little, taking another sip

Sans stared at Tuffet for a moment, taking in the pun. His grin somehow got even larger.

He’d pun back later, though. That soup smelled like heaven

The three ate in silence, and when they all finished around the same time, Papyrus leaned back into the booth and relaxed. Tuffet let out a chuckle at his content expression, pushing her bowl away from him 

“Like it, Papy?” she asked. He nodded lazily and she let out a giggle before turning to Sans “And you?”

“It's good, yeah” Sans nodded, agreeing with his little brother before letting out a loud burp. Just jolted and leaned away 

“Ew!! Say excuse me!” 

Sans looked at her, bewildered “Why?” 

“Because burping at the table is rude!” 

“So, can I burp _away_ from the table?” He asked. Tuffet paused 

“Uh….” 

This could have ended there, but it didn’t. The two of them kept this up for nearly 10 minutes

In that time, Grillby had gathered their plates, giving Papyrus a quick look before leaving the table. Tuffet noticed the stare, but thought nothing of it. This argument was clearly more important 

“Sans, its rude because it interrupts people and it smells bad!” She reasoned. Sans rolled his eye lights. 

“No its not!” Sans rebutted, his voice pretty care-free. The grin on his face was so genuinely shit-eating that Grillby wanted to walk up to him and wipe it right off his face with a rag, instead he just approached the table. 

“How are you kids doing?” He asked, putting down three mugs of hot chocolate

“He won’t say that burping is gross” Tuffet whined slightly. Sans just chuckled

“Here is some hot chocoalte. You kids’ll be here a while yet” He said. Sans’ grin fell

“What…?” Sans asked, his tone throwing Grillby off. It sounded… scared. 

“Its a billzard out there. Its not safe for you kids outside” He pointed to the whited out windows. 

Tuffet jumped in her seat, worry in her features “Oh dear! But, we have to get home for dinner!” 

“Not in that storm you’re not. All of you might get lost or hurt. Its whiteout conditions.” He asserted “These usually don’t last too long. You can stay here for you. I’ll get out some old books, paper and crayons to keep you busy. Is that alright?” 

Sans loked at Tuffet, who looked back, the at Papyrus.

He was in his “Blaster” form- curled up and sleeping. Sans, in a panic of sorts, looked back at Grillby who… didn’t even seem slightly bothered. Grillby and him made… eye contact? 

“Are you and your brother shape shifters?” The fire elemental asked, and Sans found himself clenching his fists. He maintained the eye contact and he tried to form an answer. 

Shapeshifters…. Thats what they were… right?

It took him a few more seconds before he muttered out a “Yes” and Grillby nodded before leaving the table again. Sans stared at his hands for a while, before a mug of brown liquid was put in his field of vision. 

“Its hot chocolate” Tuffet spoke, her voice quiet. “Are you alright?” He took the mug from her, and finally looked into her burgundy eyes

“Hm… Yeah, I’m okay” He assured her, looking into his cup “Sorry ‘bout that” 

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for“ she assured right back, patting his arm with a free hands before taking a sip of her hot chocolate

Sans felt himself calm down. 

Several hours had passed with the children entertaining themselves, and Tuffet was dismayed as she looked outside towards the still raging storm. 

“We’ll never get home in this weather….” Tuffet whined. 

“Looks like” Sans huffed, looking over to Papyrus, who was miraculously still asleep. 

Tuffet began to scoot out of the seat “I’ll go ask Mister Grillby if we can use the sofa in the back to sleep on tonight” 

“ No Need, children” Grillby announced, locking the door to his establishment. The children had been the only guests for quite some time at this point, and he figured that since he’d fed them dinner it was time to shut down. “The bar is now closed and it is still too dangerous for you three outside to attempt to return home. Not to mention that sofa is no place to sleep.” He grabbed his coat “You can stay with me tonight” 

“How will we get there?” Sans asked - his tone betraying his tense feelings. 

“I have an underground tunnel that leads to my home for times like this” Grillby explained “As a fire elemental, water can seriously hurt me” 

Tuffet stretched a little bit before speaking

“Thank you very much, Mister Grillby” Tuffet reached over to pick up the somehow still sleeping Papyrus - using four of her arms to make sure he was stable and comfortable, and looked over to sans, offering a free hand. When she noticed his reluctance, she cleared her throat. “I trust him, Sans. Come on.” 

Sans looked at Grillby, who was waited patiently by the door to his basement. Sans would have bitten his lip if he had one, and scooted out of the booth, grabbing for Tuffet’s hand as soon as he was able. The group carefully made their way downstairs, and through another doorway leading towards his home. 

It was a brief walk, not longer than 10 minutes. Poor Sans seemed tense right towards the beginning, and about halfway through, he let go of Tuffets hand and she heard a familiar, but still disquieting mixture of magic and shifting. She let out a slightly exasperated huff. 

“Really, Sans?” 

All she got in response was a growl and a bump in the leg. Grillby looked back at them, his fire illuminating the hall just enough to where they could all see, and made brief “eye” contact with Sans before turning his head back. He chuckled, though Sans had no idea why. 

They made their way upstairs and emptied out into his living room. 

Tuffet got a good look around. It felt even “warmer” than the bar, bathed in oranges and browns. The one thing that stood out was a gigantic, overstuffed couch that made Tuffet’s couch look miniscule. 

Sans immediately climbed up onto it and lied down like he normally did on Tuffet’s couch, only he stretched out more on this one than one hers

Grillby huffed “Will you at least get off to let me pull the bed out?” He asked, but was answered with a chuffing sound that resembled a laugh

Tuffet nearly broke out laughing at the unamused "look" on Grillby’s "face". She did however, double over and startle Papyrus awake. 

“Hey Papy. We're at Grillbys house. He's letting us stay over cause it's still snowing outside” Tuffet managed to explain in between giggles. The bone puppy just let out a tired yawn and tired to get comfortable again. 

“I’ll grab a few blankets and pillows for you kids” Grillby said “please, Tuffet, try to get him off the couch so I can pull the bed out from it” He quickly requested before headed upstairs. Tuffet just chuckled and looked at sans. 

“That face he made was really funny” She commented, sitting herself up on the sofa with Papyrus still cradled in her arms. She thought about putting him down, but he was already looking comfortable again, so she didn’t dare try to move him just yet. “Man… I’m so tired” she yawned, and sand just huffed. She squinted at him, imagining what he meant by that response. "Yeah, well, I need a job so I have to get up early”. His only response what a snort and Tuffet grumbled. 

After a moment she decided to lay on her side, gently adjusting Papyrus accordingly so he was lying next to her, and she used Sans’ puffy jacket’s arm as a pillow. Sans froze in place at the action, his other arm still up and out of the way. 

“Today was good….” Tuffet mumbled, her entire form relaxing, With Papyrus scooting around slightly to get more comfortable and leaning up against Tuffet in the process. “Didya have fun?” She asked, turning her head to try to look at Sans. After a moment of silence he chuffed, and she just giggled in response. She let out a content sigh and closed her eyes. Sans wasn’t too far behind her. 

The trio were out cold by the time Grillby returned - arms full of blankets and unreadable expression full of amused exasperation

The fire elemental simple let out a sign, and picked out the largest of the blankets he’d carried to drape over the sleeping children. He watched them for a moment, if only to make sure that their sleep was peaceful. It seemed so, with San’s arm over his little brother and the spider almost protectively. Grillby felt a sense of comfort at this. 

He quietly lit of the fireplace, and went up to bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG I AM SO SORRY. I CANNOT PROMISE MORE FREQUENCY AND I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT
> 
> but if you've got questions send them over to my Tumblr at Doodleimprovement


	5. Morning Versus Morning (Addition)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans Thinks back to what life was like in the lab, and how much can change in just a month or so

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS A COMPLETELY NEW CHAPTER ADDITION WOOP
> 
> sorry this took so long and is so short, but ya'll deserved an update at some point

Time in the lab did not exist. 

The lights turned on, the lights turned off, and that was all they had to determine that time passed. Each could be a few moments - or days - or hours - or anything. Sans tried to just sleep it away when the lights were off, his brother at his side. The floor of the cage they slept in had nothing but a thin layer of paper as cushion. But you get used to that after a time. The cold becomes room temperature, and the staleness of the air was almost comforting in a way. 

Whenever the lights turned on the first thing to do was to become alert. If you didn’t wake up fast enough, there’d be hell to pay in the form of sharp tones and being pulled out of the cage by the spine. His hands were always cold and his grip was always harsh. Papyrus was good at that- Sans less so. But he’d rather the Doctors anger be taken out on him rather than Papyrus, so he supposed it evened out. 

At that point, however, the day became a variable. 

Would they run on the treadmill until they nearly collapse from exhaustion? Be pumped full of a foreign magic to see the reaction? Would they just be forced to sit there, motionless as more measurements were taken to keep track of their progress. 

Overall it was rather benign, most days. He was grateful for those. 

.. but then there were the bad days. 

Bad days when they were forced to shoot out their blasters at live surface animals that had the displeasure of falling in the underground. Or when one of their ribs would be broken to test which type of human magic extracted from the souls helped heal it faster. When Papryus would cry for hours as they tested the limits of the magic holding his body together

Sans dreaded the bad days. He loathed them, he feared them. He knew Papyrus did too. 

They were always given time after the bad days to recuperate. And at first they were spent in tears, huddled in a corner. After a time however - after Papyrus was created - they were mostly spent in silence. Nothing happened when they cried - nothing good, anyway. It was best to just remain silent, remain quiet, remain obedient. 

Remain safe.   
…..

6 AM was just… too early to be awake, in Sans’ opinion. 

But not for Papyrus. Of course not for Papyrus. The boy was already scuttling around on all fours, pulling the blanket right off of his chronically under-rested older brother while yipping and barking about how they had to get up early to help Tuffet with her letters that morning. 

Ah yeah, it was a letter day. There were three kind of days here: Letter day, Home day, and Alone Day. 

Letter days are when Tuffet’s Letters take them to Snowdin. They go with her, and spend their dinner at Grillbys. Those are fun days, if a little tiring. The amount of times they’d both had to save Tuffet from falling on her face were too many to count at this point, and he had a feeling it was a trend that would never end. It would be funny if it wasn't so frequent... or, maybe that did make it funny. He wasn't sure. 

Home Days are when she doesn’t have any letters to deliver. They help her with chores and usually just end up watching Below-TV after- having some leftovers from Grillby’s for dinner. Sans likes these days, but in a different way. It felt nice to get up and not do anything, not have anything _to_ do. No tests, no cold, just a sofa, and television. Maybe drying dishes and sweeping, but she never demanded that they help. They wanted to. Besides, sometimes she needed the help, mostly when it came to cleaning high up cabinets. She squealed the first time he uses his blue magic and got a laugh out of him, and soon she was laughing too. After that it became routine. It was comforting in a way he had no proper definition for.

Alone days are when its just Papyrus and him. When Tuffet is in hotland delivering letters and they have to wait on her to get home. Those days aren’t bad either. No days within the walls of Tuffet’s house are ever bad, really. But they are less fun with her around. They just kinda sit around and watch TV. Sometimes Papyrus wants to rough house but it never lasts. Its… quiet. Thats the best way to describe it. Quiet in a good way. 

But nights? Nights were always the same, and it was great. 

They all brushed their teeth - which Sans found kinda funny, but did anyway. They got into pajamas, and then they all said good night. 

But his favorite part was the hugs

Tuffet made a point to hug both of them before bed, and somehow, someway, she gave the best hugs he’d ever had. 

Though his only metric was Papryus’ hugs - his were already great by virtue of being Papyrus’ hugs- Tuffet's were different. 

She didn’t have to hug them. There was no obligation or requirement. They weren’t related. They weren’t even really all that close. 

But she always did it. Enveloping him in her many arms and letting him breathe in the smell of her clothes, that always smelled like flowers because of the washing detergent she used. It had become comforting. 

Sleep came so much easier after those hugs.


End file.
